Moscow, July 28, 2015
A gala reception on behalf of the Russian President dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of repose of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, was held in the Moscow Kremlin. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, state and public figures were present at the reception, reports the Presidential website.
Speaking during the reception, Vladimir Putin said: “The significance of this event – receiving the faith and spiritual support by the Russian nation – cannot be overestimated. Unquestionably, the Baptism became the turning point of all the Russian history, statehood and our culture. Our duty is to honor this crucial period of the development of Russia. And today representatives of the government bodies, civil associations, hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches, representatives of all traditional religions of Russia (which was built as a great multinational and multiconfessional state) have gathered here. The Baptism of Russia forever went down in Church tradition and the memory of the people linked with the name and deeds of the Holy Prince Vladimir. The 1000th anniversary of his repose once again enabled us to realize the scale of his personality as the outstanding builder of Russia, the significance of his decisions for following generations, the continuity of our centuries-old history, the indestructible tie with the ancestors’ precepts.
Prince Vladimir was destined to become a great ruler. His choice was a far-seeing and responsible one and it became a source of Russia’s formation as an unique country and civilization.
Prince Vladimir’s embracing Christianity was based upon a deep love for his motherland, his serious spiritual reflections, and the search for a single source capable of consolidating the people and uniting the separate lands.
“It is amazing how much good he did to the Russian land by baptizing it,” the Tale of the Bygone Years reads. Stopping the feuds and crushing the external enemies, Prince Vladimir initiated the beginning of the united Russian nation, paved the way for building of the strong, centralized Russian state.
Russia became strong; it had power and authority in the eyes of close and distant neighbors, and held negotiations on equal footing with the peoples of the East and the West.
The prince’s decision was also an expression of our people’s aspiration for the high ideals of kindness, truth and justice, for brotherly unity and solidarity with the entire world. Theodore Mikhailovich Dostoevsky rightly called this “all-humaneness.”
The Grand Prince became a true organizer of his native land, its cultural and economic development; he became a wise and far-seeing ruler of Russia. So has Vladimir remained for us after his Baptism in Chersonese – old Korsun. These are the spiritual sources that are nourishing the Slavic brother peoples of Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus to this day.
We are faithful to Prince Vladimir’s choice. We value the peace and consent present in our multinational country; we are laboring for the good and prosperity of the land, and we respect the customs of all of its peoples, all the traditional confessions of Russia.”
“Once more I am sending my greetings to His Holiness the Patriarch and all Orthodox Christians on the occasion of the today’s holiday. I also express my special gratitude to representatives of other traditional religions in Russia for being with us on this day. Nothing separates us, but, instead, there is so much that unites us: namely, the common moral values and the common motherland that we love,” said the President.
